Bouvet-Ladubay: Growers
One unusual feature of this profile of Bouvet-Ladubay, compared to my other hundreds of Loire profiles, is that despite presenting more than 150 years of history I have not once mentioned the acquisition, expansion, planting or replanting of a vineyard. The reason for this is simple; there are no vineyards to discuss with Bouvet-Ladubay, as the firm owns none. Instead they work with innumerable local growers, over 120 in total, who produce grapes with the guidance of Bouvet-Ladubay oenologists, who also manage the harvest and pressing on site, before they then deliver the fresh must to the Bouvet-Ladubay facilities, ready for fermentation and the other processes necessary for the creation of sparkling wines. The grape varieties on which Bouvet-Ladubay focus are naturally Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc, and the soils are generally the very typical limestone of the region; other than that, there is very little to say.
With such a huge operation it is perhaps not surprising to learn of the extent of the Bouvet-Ladubay facilities in St-Hilaire-St-Florent Etienne, a high-tech winery of considerable expanse, to which the growers deliver their must. Having visited the facilities I imagined, having taken in the scale of the operation, and having walked through some of the many kilometres of limestone cellars, that this was the whole of it. I was wrong, however, as the fresh investment that has come from new owners in recent years has permitted the construction of new facilities, costing €12 million, in Distré, a few kilometres to the south of Saumur. These are, by any scale, industrial, and can be seen from the D347 as it heads south towards Montreuil-Bellay.
Please log in to continue reading: